Curtain rod



v FIG. 2

INVEN TOR. ALLEN B.. WILSON ATTORNEYS Patented May 28, 1946 CURTAIN non Allen B. Wilson, Evanston, Ill., assignor to Acme Steel Company, Chicago, Ill., a corporation of Illinois Application December 20, 1943, Serial No. 514,904

l 2 claims. (c1. zii-105.1)

This invention `relates to an improvement in curtain rods, and is purpose is to provide an improved curtain rod which will be strong and dur-able in use and which may be economically manufactured.

Heretofore, it has been the common practice to form curtain rods, upon which curtains, draperies and the like are supported, as solid metal members, made of materials such as steel, brass and the like, and, in order to obtain suicient strength to support the weight of the objects suspended therefrom, it has been necessary to make these rods of substantial thickness, with the result that they have required the use of a considerable amount of metal and have been heavy and inconvenient to handle, in addition to having a relatively high initial cost.

The principal object of the present invention is to overcome the above-mentioned diiculties by providing an improved curtain rod comprising a metal tube having its interior chamber lled with fibreboard or other non-metallic material which is preferably highly compressed during the process of manufacture.

The nature of the invention will be understood from the following specification, taken with the` accompanying drawing, in which one embodiment is illustrated. In the drawing,

Figure l shows a front elevation of a section of the improved rod mounted in supporting brackets;

Fig. 2 shows a plan view and an end elevation of a long strip of thin sheet metal which may be used in forming the outer tubular portion of the rod illustrated in'Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 shows a plan View and an end elevation of a bar of breboard or other non-metallic material, which is adapted to be rolled up and com-` pressed within the metal strip shown in Fig. 2,

when this strip is curled into tubular form;

Fig. 4 shows a cross-sectional view through the metal strip shown in Fig. 2 and the non- Y metallic bar illustrated in Fig. 3, when these at one end, which illustrates the overlapping relationship of the longitudinal edges of the metal tube and the compressed character of the internal filling.

As illustrated in Fig. 1, the improved curtain rod I0 is mounted upon a pair of supporting brackets I I which are secured to a wall or a window casing by screws I2. The rod II) is adapted to support curtains, draperies or the like which are illustrated by dotted lines at I3, and the rod has suflicient strength to maintain it against lateral bending under the influence of the objects 53 which are suspended therefrom between the brackets Il.

This improved curtain rod is formed from a sheet metal strip I4 and a body of non-metallic material which may preferably be in the form of a bar I5 of breboard c-r other suitable .nonmetallic material which is preferably of a fibrous nature. The metal strip I 4 may be comparatively thin, for example, about twenty-ve thousandths of an inch (.025 in.) in thickness, and it may be formed of steel, brass or other material having sufficient ductility to permit it to be curled into tubular form and to retain its shape after it has been curled to compress within it the bar I5 of non-metallic material which is to constitute the interior lling of the metal tube.

In the process of manufacture, the nonmetallic bar I5, which is of substantially lesser width than the metal strip I4, is placed upon the strip I4, with the longitudinal edges of the two members in parallel relationship, and the two members are then curled together about a longitudinal axis, as illustrated in Fig. 4. This curling operation is continued to bring the longitudinal edges liliL of the metal strip into overlapping relationship and to curl the bar I5 into annular form, in the manner illustrated in Fig. 5. The curling operation isvthen continued further, with a resulting further compression of the bar I5, until the final stage of the curling operation is reached, where it will be found that the longitudinal edge portions of the metal strip I4 overlap to a substantial degree and that the bar I5 has become compressed so that it assumes substantially the form and texture of a solid body of circular cross section enclosed within the metal tube, as illus-V trated in Figs. 6 and 7. By substantially overlapping the edges of the metal tube, as illustrated, and by using a metal strip having the required ductility and hardness, it will be found that the curled strip will retain its tubular form without fastening the overlapping parts together, notwithstanding the high degree of compression of the non-metallic contents of the tube but, if desired, the overlapping edges of the strip which forms the metal tube may be welded, soldered or otherwise secured together.

By forming a curtain rod according to the improved method of the present invention, it will be found that a strong and durable supporting rod may be provided with the use of metal which is Very thin and which would not of itself have the required strength and stiffness except for the provision of the internal compressed lling, It is therefore possible, by the use of this invention, to form curtain rods of attractive appearance ywith the use of a very small quantity ofrmetal and with theuse of other materials which are relatively inexpensive. satisfactory for some uses may be made according to the present invention by curling a thin metal strip and overlapping the longitudinal edges to a suitable degree Without any connection of the overlapping parts and without any Curtain rods which are filling of the internal chamber, but the use of an internal compressed iilling, as described above, is preferable.

Although one form of the invention has been shown and described by way of illustration, it will be understood' that it may be constructed in various other embodiments which come within the scope of the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A curtain rod comprising a thin metal strip Vcurled into tubular form with its longitudinal edges overlapping and having a body of nonmetallic material compressed therein.

2. A curtain rod comprising a thin metal strip curled into tubular form and having its longitudinal edges overlapped throughout a substantial part of the circumference of the tube, said edges being unattached, and a body of non-metallic material compressed in said tube.

` ALLEN B. WILSON. 

